Butanol: Are You Still Out There?
In the 1970s and 1980s, when that energy crisis caused scientists and politicians to start the hunt for a gasoline substitute, butanol and ethanol were brought to the table as possible replacement fuels. Butanol, an alcohol that can be derived from fermentation or from petroleum, showed promise: it burns cleaner than ethanol, has a higher energy output, can travel through existing gasoline pipelines, and can be used at 100% concentrations in unmodified vehicles. So why did ethanol win the federal dollars for development? Because manufacturing butanol was expensive and inefficient, and the same bushel of corn could make 2.5 gallons of ethanol, but only 1.3 gallons of butanol.
In 2004, Environmental Energy, Inc announced that they had developed a manufacturing process that could yield 2.5 gallons of butanol per bushel of corn, and could even create butanol out of switch grass and yard waste. The last information the company gives is that it's still raising money to step their production into high gear. Perhaps Bush's new call to invest in alternative energy will give butanol a chance.
[Source: Environmental Energy Inc., and thank you to Stéphane Dumas for the tip.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glenn A. 10:44AM (5/01/2006)
I hope to fill up my Prius with Butanol at a local gas station so I can send "digital communications" (you figure it out) to the lunatics in other countries who would like to kill us all because we don't share their religion.
This will keep our money within our country. I say, what are we waiting for?
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St?ane Dumas 2:56PM (5/01/2006)
here another related link about butanol on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butanol
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Glenn A. 3:09PM (5/01/2006)
Look at this, from the Wikepedia site.
Butanol is a higher alcohol with a 4 carbon atom structure and a general formula of C4H10O.
10 hydrogen atoms to a molecule of Butanol?
OK, so does this mean it would be logical to have fuel cell vehicles fuelled by Butanol, with the break-down of Butanol on-board the car?
Or (as I suspect) would it be much more logical to utilize Prius style technology (Atkinson cycle engine, Butanol fuel, hybrid technology) to gain more efficiency overall than fuel cell vehicles?
Look at Toyota's Prius site and you'll find references to the fact that overall, the Prius is more efficient than the best fuel cell car now envisioned.
Why re-invent the car when all we must do is re-invent the fuel?
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